The Pursuit of Power: Europe 1815-1914

The Pursuit of Power draws on a lifetime of thinking about 19th-century Europe to create an extraordinarily rich, surprising and entertaining panorama of a continent undergoing drastic change. The aim of this audiobook is to reignite the sense of wonder that permeated this remarkable era, as rulers and ruled navigated overwhelming cultural, political and technological changes.

Towards the Flame: Empire, War and the End of Tsarist Russia

The Russian decision to mobilize in July 1914 may have been the single most catastrophic choice of the modern era. Some articulate, thoughtful figures around the tsar understood Russia's fragility, yet they were shouted down by those who were convinced that despite Germany's patent military superiority, Russian greatness required decisive action.

Six Months in 1945: FDR, Stalin, Churchill, and Truman - from World War to Cold War

When Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill met in Yalta in February 1945, Hitler's armies were on the run and victory was imminent. The Big Three wanted to draft a blueprint for a lasting peace - but instead set the stage for a 44-year division of Europe into Soviet and western spheres of influence. After fighting side by side for nearly four years, their political alliance was rapidly fracturing. By the time the leaders met again in Potsdam in July 1945, Russians and Americans were squabbling over the future of Germany and Churchill was warning about an "iron curtain" being drawn down over the Continent.

Masters and Commanders

In Masters and Commanders Andrew Roberts describes how four titanic figures shaped the grand strategy of the West during the Second World War. The book attempts to give answers to key questions regarding allied strategy based on the personalities and relationships between two political masters - Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt - and the military commanders of their armed forces - the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, General Sir Alan Brooke, and the US Army Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall.

Stalin's Englishman

Guy Burgess is the most important, complex and fascinating of 'The Cambridge Spies' - the group of British men recruited to pass intelligence to the Soviets during World War Two and the Cold War. Burgess' story takes us from his student days in 1930s Cambridge, where he was first approached by Soviet scouts, through his daring infiltration of the BBC and the British government to his final escape to Russia and lonely, tragic-comic exile there.

Hitler's Hangman: The Life of Heydrich

Reinhard Heydrich is widely recognized as one of the great iconic villains of the 20th century, an appalling figure even within the context of the Nazi leadership. Chief of the Nazi Criminal Police, the SS Security Service, and the Gestapo, ruthless overlord of Nazi-occupied Bohemia and Moravia, and leading planner of the "Final Solution," Heydrich played a central role in Hitler's Germany.

The Maisky Diaries: Red Ambassador to the Court of St James's, 1932-1943

The terror and purges of Stalin's Russia in the 1930s discouraged Soviet officials from leaving documentary records, let alone keeping personal diaries. A remarkable exception is the unique diary assiduously kept by Ivan Maisky, the Soviet ambassador to London between 1932 and 1943. This selection from Maisky's diary grippingly documents Britain's drift to war during the 1930s, appeasement in the Munich era, negotiations leading to the signature of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact....

GORDON FRASER says:"Brilliant as close to Tine travel as we can get! "

Spain: The Centre of the World 1519-1682

The Golden Age of the Spanish Empire would establish five centuries of Western supremacy across the globe and usher in an era of transatlantic exploration that eventually gave rise to the modern world. It was a time of discovery and adventure, of great political and social change - it was a time when Spain learned to rule the world.

The Greatest Traitor: The Secret Lives of Agent George Blake

On 3 May 1961, after a trial conducted largely in secret, a man named George Blake was sentenced to an unprecedented 42 years in jail. By his own confession he was a Soviet spy, but the reasons for such a severe punishment were never revealed. To the public, Blake was simply the greatest traitor of the Cold War. Yet his story touches not only the depths of treachery, but also the heights of heroism.

Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad

On August 5, 1942, giant pillars of dust rose over the Russian steppe, marking the advance of the 6th Army, an elite German combat unit dispatched by Hitler to capture the industrial city of Stalingrad and press on to the oil fields of Azerbaijan. The Germans were supremely confident; in three years, they had not suffered a single defeat. The Luftwaffe had already bombed the city into ruins. German soldiers hoped to complete their mission and be home in time for Christmas.

Princes at War: The British Royal Family's Private Battle in the Second World War

King George V predicted that his son, Edward VIII, would destroy himself within a year of succeeding to the throne. In December 1936 he was proved right, and the world's press revealed the king was abandoning his throne to marry Wallis Simpson. A life spent in the shadow of his charismatic elder brother left the new king, George VI, magnificently unprepared for the demands of ruling the kingdom and empire. Drawing on personal accounts from the royal archives, Deborah Cadbury uncovers the very private conflict.

Roosevelt's Second Act: The Election of 1940 and the Politics of War

On August 31, 1939, nearing the end of his second and presumably final term in office, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was working in the Oval Office and contemplating construction of his presidential library and planning retirement. The next day German tanks had crossed the Polish border; Britain and France had declared war. Overnight the world had changed, and FDR found himself being forced to consider a dramatically different set of circumstances.

Britain's War: Volume 1, Into Battle, 1937-1941

The most terrible emergency in Britain's history, the Second World War, required an unprecedented national effort. An exhausted country had to fight an unexpectedly long war and found itself much diminished amongst the victors. The outcome of the war was nonetheless a triumph, not least for a political system that proved well adapted to the demands of a total conflict and for a population who had to make many sacrifices but who were spared most of the horrors experienced in the rest of Europe.

Rendezvous at the Russian Tea Rooms: The Spyhunter, the Fashion Designer & the Man From Moscow

Rendezvous at the Russian Tea Rooms provides the first comprehensive account of what was once hailed by a leading American newspaper as the greatest spy story of World War II. This dramatic yet little-known saga, replete with telephone taps, kidnappings, and police surveillance, centres on the furtive escapades of Tyler Kent, a handsome, womanising 28-year-old Ivy League graduate who doubles as a US Embassy code clerk and Soviet agent.

Margot at War: Love and Betrayal in Downing Street, 1912-1916

Margot Asquith was perhaps the most daring and unconventional Prime Minister's wife in British history. Known for her wit, style and habit of speaking her mind, she transformed 10 Downing Street into a glittering social and intellectual salon. Yet her last five years at Number 10 were a period of intense emotional and political turmoil in her private and public life.

Marlborough: His Life and Times

John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough (1644-1722), was one of the greatest military commanders and statesmen in the history of England. Victorious in the Battles of Blenheim (1704) and Ramillies (1706) and countless other campaigns, Marlborough, whose political intrigues were almost as legendary as his military skill, never fought a battle he didn't win. Marlborough also bequeathed the world another great British military strategist and diplomat, his descendant, Winston S. Churchill.

The Last 100 Days: The Tumultuous and Controversial Story of the Final Days of World War II in Europe

A dramatic countdown of the final months of World War II in Europe, The Last 100 Days brings to life the waning power and the ultimate submission of the Third Reich. To reconstruct the tumultuous hundred days between Yalta and the fall of Berlin, John Toland traveled more than 100,000 miles in twenty-one countries and interviewed more than six hundred people - from Hitler's personal chauffeur to Generals von Manteuffel, Wenck, and Heinrici.

The End of the Cold War: 1985-1991

The dismantling of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the spread of Perestroika throughout the former Soviet bloc was a sea change in world history. Here, acclaimed Russian historian Robert Service examines precisely how that change came about. Drawing on a vast and largely untapped range of sources, he builds a picture of the two men who spearheaded the breakthrough: Ronald Reagan, president of the United States; and Mikhail Gorbachev, last general secretary of the Soviet Union.

The Strangest Family: The Private Lives of George III, Queen Charlotte and the Hanoverians

An intensely moving account of George III's doomed attempt to create a happy, harmonious family, written with astonishing emotional force from a stunning new history writer. George III came to the throne in 1760 as a man with a mission. He wanted to be a new kind of king, one whose power was rooted in the affection and approval of his people. And he was determined to revolutionise his private life too - to show that a better man would, inevitably, make a better ruler.

1944: FDR and the Year That Changed History

New York Times best-selling author Jay Winik brings to life in gripping detail the year 1944, which determined the outcome of World War II and put more pressure than any other on an ailing yet determined President Roosevelt.

Hitler: Ascent 1889-1939

For all the literature about Adolf Hitler, there have been just four seminal biographies; this is the fifth, a landmark work that sheds important new light on Hitler himself. Drawing on previously unseen papers and a wealth of recent scholarly research, Volker Ullrich reveals the man behind the public persona, from Hitler's childhood, to his failures as a young man in Vienna, to his experiences during the First World War, to his rise as a far-right party leader.

Adolf Hitler

Based on previously unpublished documents, diaries, notes, photographs, and dramatic interviews with Hitler's colleagues and associates, this is the definitive biography of one of the most despised yet fascinating figures of the 20th century. Painstakingly documented, it is a work that will not soon be forgotten.

Victoria: A Life

To many Queen Victoria was a ruler shrouded in myth and mystique, portrayed as an aging, stiff widow. But in truth Britain's longest-reigning monarch was passionate, expressive, humorous, and unconventional. A. N. Wilson's exhaustively researched and definitive biography includes a wealth of new material from previously unseen sources, showing us Queen Victoria as she's never been seen before.

The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an unlikely leader - fuelled by hate, incapable of forming normal human relationships, unwilling to debate political issues - and yet he commanded enormous support. So how was it possible that Hitler became such an attractive figure to millions of people? That is the important question at the core of Laurence Rees' new book. The Holocaust, the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, the outbreak of the Second World War - all these cataclysmic events and more can be laid at Hitler's door.

Publisher's Summary

American Warlords is the story of the greatest "team of rivals" since the days of Lincoln.

In a lifetime shaped by politics, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proved himself a master manipulator of Congress, the press, and the public. But when war in Europe and Asia threatened America's shores, FDR found himself in a world turned upside down, where his friends became his foes, his enemies his allies. To help wage democracy's first "total war", he turned to one of history's most remarkable triumvirates.

Henry Stimson, an old-money Republican from Long Island, rallied to FDR's banner to lead the Army as Secretary of War and championed innovative weapons that helped shape our world today. General George C. Marshall argued with Roosevelt over grand strategy, but he built the world's greatest war machine and willingly sacrificed his dream of leading the invasion of Europe that made his protégé, Dwight Eisenhower, a legend. Admiral Ernest J. King, a hard-drinking, irascible fighter who "destroyed" Pearl Harbor in a prewar naval exercise, understood how to fight Japan, but he also battled the army, the air force, Douglas MacArthur, and his British allies as they moved armies and fleets across the globe.

These commanders threw off sparks whenever they clashed: generals against politicians, army versus navy. But those sparks lit the fire of victory. During four years of bitter warfare, FDR's lieutenants learned to set aside deep personal, political, and professional differences and pull a nation through the 20th century's darkest days.

Encircling Roosevelt's warlords - and sometimes bitterly at odds with them - was a colorful cast of the Second World War's giants: Winston Churchill, MacArthur, Josef Stalin, Eisenhower, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Charles de Gaulle. These and other larger-than-life figures enrich a sweeping story of an era brimming with steel, fire, and blood.

Loved the information and pace of the book and its terrific narrator. It provided great personal insights into these men who were absolutely perfect for the roles Fate assigned them. I became very interested in learning more about George Marshall, a man sadly forgotten about over time.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Carly

Melbourne, Australia

19/04/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Best WW2 non-fiction I've listened to"

Combination of great writing and a great performance made this difficult to put down and by the time I'd finished 20 hours I still wanted more. Fascinating insights from a perspective I've read little about, this book certainly brings the characters to life. Will definitely buy more from this author & performer.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Kevin

04/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Great listen!"

It puts all the major players together and how they reacted with each other. Puts in more perspective than any one biography.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Dennis K.

01/05/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"A gem"

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This book enthralled me for several weeks. It certainly was not short, but every chapter was a gem. Jonathan W. Jordan's skill with the English language was forever present, and his constant use of naval terms was entirely enjoyable. I have, I guess, a better than average knowledge of WWII for someone of my age, a baby boomer born just a few scant years after the end of the war, and I have read and watched footage of many battles. But everything I had every read or viewed in the past always centered on the battles, and on the military planning for the battles. Jordan's book takes us into the politics and the personalities of the men at the top, and he provides so much wonderful minutia, so many well-woven factoids, so many issues of trivia, that the book comes alive as if the reader (or in my case, the listener) were on scene as a fly on the wall. This is really a terrific book, and vastly enlarged my knowledge of what was going on behind the scenes during WWII. I had not known that much about Ernie King, and always thought of Chester Nimitz as the great admiral of the war. I did not realize that Churchill so staunchly, and for so long, opposed the Normandy invasion, trying desperately and continuously to steer the US to operations in Italy and the Balkans. Certainly I had always known of Eisenhower's success on D-Day, but I did not know that his assignment was almost a last-minute decision. Finally, the pivotal and essential role of Marshall really comes through. The amount of research Jordan must have done to write this book is astounding, and the source material he cites is highly impressive, not only that he viewed these materials, but that he found them. In sum, the book is so beautifully written, so filled with facts, but presented so masterfully, that I found myself suspending my own knowledge and waiting to see how it all worked out. As they say in some book reviews, "A tour de force!"

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Shawn

Elma, WA, United States

27/12/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Amazing"

Shawn

This was an amazing book. It was very detailed and kept me fully engaged in listening. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in this subject matter.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Alan

Sunrise, FL, United States

26/12/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Terrific listen"

I do not hand out 5 stars to every book. In order for a book to be a 5 star you must be teleported to where the story is being told and you become engrossed in what is happeningaround you. You must live the story rather then just witness it. This is why AmeridanWarlords gets 5 stars from me.

This book is the telling of WW2 from the perspective of the major policy players. Roosevelt Marshal, King, Stimson, Ickies and others. As Hitler takes power in 1933, Roosevelt knowsthat a distant storm is coming Wrapped in the throws of the depression, Roosevelt has the vision to jump start the American manufacturing war machine to keep Great Briton afloat.

This book is a must read for the WW2 history buff. Where the book loses one star in performance is the mispronunciation of key names and cities. Missing from this book is any discussion of Harry Hopkins, one of Roosevelt's closest advisers I wonder at this omission

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Brian

02/12/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"WWII From a different angle"

I have read 20+ books on WWII but I haven't read anything as comprehensive from the American high command. I really enjoyed it and I learned a lot

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

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